As a four-year old, I loved going to SeaWorld and seeing the orcas in the Shamu shows splash around and do all sorts of tricks. Growing up, my family and I did not travel to too many places, so going to Seaworld to watch the orca show stuck with me for years to come. I had always thought the orcas loved performing and doing tricks in her pool until recently, when these barbaric acts of imprisonment towards these beautiful creatures were exposed to the public by the media. What people don’t realise is these animals are in pain and are suffering everyday for our own amusement with circus-style attraction shows. Although these orcas are not like us physically, they are very able to convey emotions just as well as we can. They feel like we feel. They feel depression, boredom, anxious, playful, but it's hard for us to see these emotions so we don't address it.

From violent acts against the orcas’ trainer to the physical appearance of the orca, keeping these large aquatic beauties in captivity has been proven to be a bad idea for both humans and the orcas. There is of course the violent and aggressive acts towards humans and trainers caused by the orcas that is always talked about in media outlets. The orcas aggression is said to be an effect of being locked up in an extremely small tank for a majority of their life. At SeaWorld, an orca would have to swim around the main pool around 1,400 times to match the equivalent of the distance they travel daily in the wild. The orca swimming in a small cage for all of its life is bound to build up tension. If a person were to be confined to a small room for most to all of their life, it is doubtful that the person would stay composed and intact with their sanity. Studies show that orcas kept in captivity have acted out of aggression more than 100 times compared to 1 in the wild ("The Fate of Captive Orcas.") . Also, it has been documented that 4 people have been killed by captive orcas out of aggression, compared to none in the wild.  There is also the physical attribute to the orcas that reflect directly to the captivity, such as the collapsing of dorsal fins on the male orcas due to their frustration towards tight spaced pools and separation from their natural habitat (“8 Reasons Orcas Don't Belong at SeaWorld”) and caused by the gravity on the dorsal fin because of the orca spending too much time on the surface of the shallow pools ("The Fate of Captive Orcas.").

So if we can’t keep them in exhibits in amusement parks or aquariums, what do we do?

One idea that has circulated the media is to set them completely free into their natural habitat. Releasing them to their natural home seems like the simplest solution, but in fact is the most difficult. In 1993, after the filming of “Free Willy,” the orca whale was returned to the ocean but unfortunately did not integrate into society “though physically unrestricted and free to leave, he kept returning to his caretakers for food and company,"(Hogenboom).  Another idea is to retire the captive orcas to sanctuaries. Recently, scientists have started working on a sanctuary for the SeaWorld orcas so they could retire. SeaWorld in an effort to keep their captive whales stated that putting the orcas in these sanctuaries would most likely be a death sentence for them. SeaWorld stated “It's not prudent to release them into a wild ocean that they didn't grow up in and are, most likely, unequipped to handle.” (Entertainment). After SeaWorld released this statement, Dr. Naomi Rose argued that the sea pens wouldn’t be a death sentence, but a safe haven. Rather than having them stay in the cages with a great lack of space at SeaWorld, the sanctuary would be a place “where they can stay safe in large pens - as they are too damaged to live completely without care - will give them a more interesting life.” ("Scientists Are Building...")

"8 Reasons Orcas Don't Belong at SeaWorld - SeaWorld of Hurt."SeaWorld of Hurt. N.p., n.d.
Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

Entertainment, SeaWorld Parks &. "SeaWorld Will Not Risk the Health of Its Orcas on
Unproven Sea Cages." SeaWorld Will Not Risk the Health of Its Orcas on Unproven Sea
Cages. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

Hogenboom, Melissa 10 March 2016. "Why Killer Whales Should Not Be Kept in Captivity."
BBC. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

"Scientists Are Building a Sanctuary Where SeaWorld's Orcas Could Retire." The Telegraph.
Telegraph Media Group, 7 May 2016. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

"The Fate of Captive Orcas." WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation. Web. 25 Oct.
2016.